This study will examine two questions: 1. Whether insulin treatment of high blood sugar in patients with diabetes while they are in the emergency room will improve how quickly they recover from illness if they need to be hospitalized. 2. Whether immediately beginning long lasting insulin detemir in patients with diabetes when they are admitted to hospital from the emergency room will improve how quickly they recover from the illness which necessitated hospitalization.

these subjects will be treated with insulin aspart every 2 hours if blood glucose is more than 200 mg/dl during their ER evaluation. If they are admitted to hospital then they will receive a weight-based dose of insulin detemir immediately prior to admission and then every 24 hours thereafter combined with mealtime doses of insulin aspart if they are eating.

Drug: insulins aspart and detemir

insulin aspart will be given every 2 hours dosed from 0.05 to 0.15 units per kg weight to patients with a prior history of diabetes if blood glucose is more than 200 mg/dl in the ER. If subjects are admitted to hospital then they will receive insulin detemir 0.3 units/kg daily and insulin aspart 0.1 units/kg per meal if they are eating.

No Intervention: 2 usual care

these subjects will receive no insulin per protocol during their ER stay or during a possible inpatient admission. The care for their diabetes will be solely determined by the physician(s) in the ER and by the physician(s) caring for them in the hospital if they are admitted. They may receive no therapy, oral agents or insulin per primary physician preference.

Patients who have clinically significant liver disease with ALT/AST > 3 times the upper range of normal

Patients currently treated with dialysis

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00591227